


don't let our best memories bring you sorrow

by joshriku



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hugs, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Not A New Day (TWEWY) Compliant, Post-Canon, ft. joshua and beat's totally real friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:50:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26870170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshriku/pseuds/joshriku
Summary: A while after the Game ends, Joshua shows up in front of Beat. Beat does the logical thing and runs away from him, until he actually helps him out.
Relationships: Bito "Beat" Daisukenojo & Kiryu "Joshua" Yoshiya, Kiryu "Joshua" Yoshiya & Sakuraba Neku
Comments: 11
Kudos: 23





	don't let our best memories bring you sorrow

Beat knows something is off. These days, he’s too aware of his surroundings. He doesn’t bring up the concern to Rhyme; instead, he walks her home, chatting to her like usual, and then grabs his skateboard.

“Oh, you’re going already?” Rhyme asks. “Aren’t you going to change from your uniform?”

“Nah,” Beat grins at her. “Gotta dirty ‘em up. I like ‘em all torn and ugly, y’kno. D’you want any food?”

“I’m good,” she beams at him. “Don’t come home late!”

He tries to ruffle her hair, even though it’s hard with her hat on. 

Grabbing his skate and leaving, the strange feeling follows him along. It’s not a _feeling,_ it’s more like… like the sensation that he’s being followed. It creeps up on him. Reminds him too much of Iron Maiden days, also, and he’s not really fond of his memories of her. If it wasn’t anything to worry about, then the feeling would disappear the longer he skated, right? 

He sets his destination: Miyashita Park Underpass. Beat can’t say it’s his favorite place, but he’s been trying his best to reclaim it. Get it back. Plus, it’s far away enough that whoever was chasing him would give up. If someone was following him, who could it be?

Reapers? Uzuki and Kariya?

Nah. Lollipop probably was too lazy to even care about what he was up to, and Pinky wouldn’t do it without him. Coffee Man? No, he had his café to run. Plus, why would he chase after Beat? He could just talk to him. It’s not one of his friends—he said good-bye to Shiki and Neku at school before they parted ways, and the list of Reapers is running short.

He finally stops when he arrives at his destination, anxiously looking around.

“Yo… if anyone’s there…” he speaks, seemingly to no one, “you better show your ass before I drag you out.”

There’s silence on the other end. At this hour of the day—three in the afternoon—the place is pretty dead. No joke intended. As he continues to see if he missed any spot where someone could possibly be hiding, he hears a response: “Fine, I give up. I’d like to not be dragged out.”

“You!” It’s the prissy kid that used to be with Neku. Shibuya’s Composer and all that crap. “Yo, what the hell? Wha’s you doin’ here?!”

“I—”

“Man, not cool! You scared the crap outta me!” Beat inhales and exhales, finally relaxing, but still pretty stressed. “I thought you was a Reaper! Messing with frequencies or some bullshit—”

“Well—”

“Why are you here? Don’ you belong in Heaven or some bullshit? Or at your weird-ass river?”

“Maybe if you'd just let me _speak,_ I’d tell you,” Joshua answers, seemingly pissed.

“Yo, why are you gettin’ all pissy? You’re the one stalkin’ me.”

“Yes, and I am truly regretting that decision,” he sighs. “Listen, Beat, I’m not here to do anything to you.”

Beat finally straightens up, analyzing Joshua. He looks… the same as always. “So?”

“I’m getting to it,” Joshua continues. “I’m checking up on you all.”

“Well, thanks but no thanks,” Beat continues. “Yo. You’re seriously fucked up, man.”

Joshua cocks his head, smirking. “I’m aware, but what makes _you_ say this? As far as I know, you and I have barely talked to each other, let alone know about the other beyond our names.” 

“Man, quit actin’ like you so clueless! You bastard. Phones’ week with me, he was mad sad over losin’ you. Kept sayin’ he shoulda been a better partner to you an’ all. Felt so damn guilty. And you checkin’ up on _me?_ Tha’s seriously messed up!”

“He felt bad?” Joshua wonders, like he has no damn idea of what Beat is talking about. “He told you that?”

“It was damn obvious too. Didn’ he tell you? Or was you too busy waving your stupid little gun around?”

“My gun is _not_ stupid,” he replies, getting riled up again. Neku put up with _him_ for a _week?_ “I didn’t know Neku felt like that.”

“You pretty stupid for a Composer.”

Joshua laughs. “Perhaps so. As they say, it takes one to know one, don’t you agree?”

“Yeah. Totally.”

Wait…

“You punk-ass—you makin’ fun of me?!”

He’s laughing again. Bitch.

“Anyway, you got what you wanted,” Beat gestures to himself. “Here’s your check-up. I’m all good.”

“Apparently so.” Joshua looks around. “What brings you to the place of your death?”

Wow. He’s really dropping that like it’s nothing, huh? Beat shuffles awkwardly. He picks up his skate, just to have something to fiddle with, while Joshua waits on for an answer. 

“Well…” Beat looks at his feet. His new sneakers are quite dirty already. “Can’t avoid it forever, I guess.”

“I suppose so. But you voluntarily came here.”

Beat inhales sharply. “I dunno, man! I just wanna stop bein’ scared of this place. Gain some power over it. Stop bein’ so damn sad every time I walk past it. Why you all up in my business, huh? You have some city to run.”

“I’m doing my job,” Joshua raises his hands up, gesturing around. “This _is_ Shibuya. I’m its Composer. I’d say I’m right where I should be.”

“Heh, sure,” Beat sets down his skate again. “I don’ care for whatever you have to say. I’m outta your game, aight? I don’ ever want to go back to it. Go say hi to Neku. He’d be happy to see you.”

He skates away before Joshua gets to answer. Would he get in trouble for antagonizing the guy who ran the city? He’s like, worse than the mayor. Definitely worse than the mayor. The feeling of being chased fades away, so he knows Joshua isn’t after his ass, but still. Uh-oh. Maybe he pissed off some sort of divinity dude. _Uh-oh,_ indeed.

* * *

A week passes, and Beat isn’t battling for his life in some fucked up Game, so maybe he didn’t anger Joshua. He knows he should bring it up to Neku, but he has no idea how. _Yo, prissy kid is back and he came to bother me. Has he bothered you too? Don’ wanna be alone on it._

“...So I’m totally going to start getting into competitive Smash,” Neku says to him. “I mean, why not? It’s a fun game.”

“Who you maining?”

“Joker,” Neku answers. “I heard the competitions have some sick prizes. I could use some money.”

Beat snorts. “Life hard since we stopped gettin’ money from pins, ain’t it?”

“You bet,” he laughs. “I need to pay for my snacks somehow. And you never want to do the part-time jobs with me!”

“You never bring anything my type, yo! Thas’ on you!” he tries to get to Neku, to ruffle his hair or push him, but Neku’s always quicker than him.

He’s laughing again as Beat jokingly chases after him. It’s good that Neku laughs a lot more now than before. He’s still the quiet type, but he’s a lot happier than before, and Beat likes that out of everyone, he got the better results at the Game. He deserves the happiness.

Maybe that’s why Beat is reluctant to bring up his encounter with Joshua. It eats him up inside, but he doesn’t want Neku to be sad over things out of his control. It’s easier to talk about Smash and silly stupid things. 

* * *

Rhyme texts him to pick her up from the arcade after hanging out with her friends, and once he gets there, Rhyme excitedly gestures at her new friend.

“He won me the prize!” Rhyme innocently gestures to Joshua, who’s smugly grinning at him. 

Beat points at him. “You bastard!”

“Hello again, Beat,” Joshua waves, airily. “Rhyme here is such a pro at the games! I simply had a bit of luck.”

Beat can’t curse Joshua out because, one, swearing in front of Rhyme is bad. Two, it’s probably bad to yell inside an arcade, even if the object of his screaming _totally_ deserved it. One look at Joshua’s face tells him he’s right about that thought. Three, they should get home soon.

Rhyme hands him one of her prizes, saying it’s for him, and most of his anger subsides. It’s a really pretty bracelet. Damn, his sister is forever going to be his weak spot, huh? Can’t stay mad if she’s always so kind.

“We should get goin’,” Beat says.

“Do you know Joshua?” Rhyme asks, and only then Beat notices Joshua has tagged along to their walk.

“I live around here,” Joshua says as an excuse. He totally doesn’t. “We’ve run into each other a few times. So, Rhyme, we were talking about your dreams?”

“Oh, yup!” she answers, chirpy and excited. “I haven’t found one that suits me yet.”

If looks could kill, Joshua would be six feet under already. That’s a damn sensitive topic! He tries to communicate this to Joshua as quietly as he can, since Rhyme is walking up ahead, but Joshua just gives him a smile and doesn’t do anything. “Oh, is that so? You know, you’re still young. You shouldn’t be too worried.”

“I agree with you!” she turns around with a big smile on her face. Beat is a tad less worried now. “I think, if I can’t find my dream, then it’s not the end of the world either! I think there’s a lot of beauty to keep enjoying living, even without a dream.”

“Rhyme, you are incredibly wise,” Joshua says to her. Beat arches an eyebrow. He can’t tell if he’s lying to her or not. “Excellent mentality! Some adults tend to lose that thought as they grow up. Make sure you don’t turn into a stinky adult, mm?”

Rhyme giggles with him. “Mh-hmm! I won’t!”

He seems more interested in talking to Rhyme than Beat, and okay, Beat will allow that. Rhyme doesn’t recognize him—in fact, he doesn’t think Rhyme has even _heard_ of Joshua. His friends haven’t been discussing much of the Game, even less of their little _Composer_ friend, so maybe she thinks he’s just a regular guy. Pffft. Yeah, right. Beat wishes he was a regular guy—he seems to get along well with Rhyme. Anyone on Rhyme’s good side is on Beat’s good side.

He remembers Neku’s smiling face and frowns. He’s making an exception for Joshua.

They get to their neighborhood quickly, so Beat tells her to go ahead. “I’ll jus’ talk to Joshua for a while.”

“Okay, sure. I’ll heat up your lunch, okay?”

“Ya. Thanks, Rhyme.”

“I got you!” she grins at him brightly and he can’t help the smile back. 

They both watch her enter the house and Joshua giggles. “She’s quite the delight.”

“What was you doin’, huh? Interrogating my sister?!”

“Oh, please. I didn’t do anything. I just came to check on her,” he shrugs. “She’s a special case. Her entry fee was lost, so I came to see how she was managing. She’s doing excellent. I truly hope she keeps shining like that.”

Beat slows down once he notices Joshua’s gaze lingering on their house. “Yo… uh… do you… like, regret it? Takin’ away her fee an’ all?”

“It’s how the Game works,” Joshua says.

“Thas’ not an answer.”

He doesn’t reply. Slowly, a smirk forms on his lips, and Beat wills himself to not lash out. Motherfucker. He has a feeling, though, that he may be regretting it. 

“Just give it to her back if it bothers you so much,” Beat rolls his eyes. “Spare the dramatizalizations.” 

Joshua finally laughs. “Incredible word. May I add it to my own dictionary?”

“Maybe. You visited Neku yet?”

The Neku jab always got to him. Beat laughs. “Then no borrowin’ words. Create your own, yo.”

“Perhaps I will,” Joshua answers. “I should get going. It’s been lovely to talk to you.”

“Don’t fuckin’ lie to me to my face, man. Just get going!”

Joshua laughs as he walks away.

“Make sure you talk to Neku!”

He swears Joshua walked faster at that.

* * *

Clearly, if he can’t talk about _this_ issue to Neku, Shiki is his best choice. Shiki’s his best friend, too, so it shouldn’t be a problem anyway. It so happens that Neku has to go to his new part-time job, leaving Shiki and Beat to have lunch together.

“Yo, Shiki,” he starts. He doesn’t mean to ruin the mood immediately, but _man,_ he’s going to explode if he doesn’t bring it up, “I needa talk to you for a sec.”

“Sure! What’s up?” she asks, immediately kind as always. God, Beat could spin-hug her.

“So, uh, lately I—” Shiki zones out on something behind him. “Shiki? You good?”

Her finger slowly points at whatever Shiki might be seeing. “Are you… like, do you see the same person I’m seeing?”

Beat already knows who it is based on that reaction. “You also seein’ Joshua?”

“Wow, seems like I’m quite popular around here, huh?” Once Beat turns around, Joshua waves at them. “Beat, we keep running into each other. What a wonderful coincidence.”

“You—but— _you,”_ Shiki sputters out, “You’re alive?!”

“Oh, 100% alive,” Joshua grins. “This is as alive as I get. All my organs are functioning.”

“So you dead _dead,_ huh,” Beat adds.

“What are _you_ doing here?” she asks the same thing as Beat, except, Shiki is a lot more terrifying than Beat could ever be. It’s that damn plushie. Mr. Mew haunts Beat’s nightmares. “You! Have you apologized to Neku yet?!”

“Is that all you people know what to say? Everywhere I go, people tell me to talk to Neku.” Joshua shakes his head. “I’m getting tired of it.”

“Then maybe your sorry ass _shud_ talk to him, dumbass!”

“I’m just checking how everyone is, sheesh,” Joshua sighs. “No respect for Composers these days, mm?”

“I’m doing fine,” Shiki says, although she has a defensive stance. “I’m very happy with Eri and everyone else.” 

“Woah, woah, Miss Misaki. I haven’t even asked you yet!” he exclaims. “How did you know what I wanted to say?”

“Intuition. Hey, Beat? Could you grab our guest?”

He has no idea what Shiki is planning, but a second later, he’s back-hugging Joshua and keeping him in place. “This works for you?”

“Yep. I have to call Neku,” She says. “You do want to see him, right? That’s why you’re here.”

Joshua remains silent. He’s not even struggling on Beat’s hold. Maybe Beat’s just too strong, huh.

“I won’t do anything you don’t want to,” Shiki continues, of course she does. “We do have respect for our Composers.”

That makes Joshua laugh slightly.

“But I do think Neku deserves to see you,” she adds, softly. “Again, though, just say the word and I won’t call him. I know what it’s like to be forced into confrontations.”

Beat loosens up his grip a bit, just to let him know he agrees with Shiki. Hey, no fun if someone’s being forced into something, right? Beat wouldn’t like to be a bad guy.

“Go ahead,” Joshua says. He can’t see his face, but Beat thinks he’s either smirking or genuinely smiling. The second one is terrifying, so he settles with the first image. “You’d be making my job easier.”

“Hi, Neku?” Shiki says into her phone after a while. “We have a surprise for you. Do you wanna meet up at Hachiko? Okay! See you in fifteen!” she hangs up. “He’s gonna escape in a bit, he said. Let’s get going to Hachiko!”

“I can walk,” Joshua says, still wrapped up by Beat.

“No way, man. I don’ trust you. You gonna run off.”

“What, then?” Joshua teases, “Are you going to carry me to Hachiko?”

“Not a bad idea.” In a second, Beat lets him go, only to grab him again and throw Joshua over his shoulder. 

“What is going on,” Joshua deadpans. “Do I even weigh anything to you?”

“Nah. Yo, it’s like holding grapes.”

Shiki laughs. 

At Hachiko, Joshua is still being held like he’s going to run off at any second. Eventually, Neku arrives, and the second he registers what’s going on, Beat lets Joshua go.

Neku is deadly quiet, staring at Joshua like he’s not really there. Beat’s been there, really, but this gotta be worse for him.

Joshua clears his throat. “Is that how you greet people these days? My, Neku, you have not changed at all.”

Neku blinks slowly. “Joshua.”

“Yes, that’s me. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what I look like,” Beat _thinks_ Joshua might be nervous. Then again, he can’t really read Joshua at all. 

“You _jackass,”_ Neku exclaims, finally, and even Beat can see Joshua’s surprised face before he lunges forward and bear-hugs him. “You’re the worst!”

“What are you doing?” Joshua asks, voice squeaky. “Hello to you too?”

“I’m giving you a hug,” Neku responds. “I missed you.”

“Jeez, have you never been hugged?!” Beat asks once Joshua _still_ hasn’t lifted up his arms. “Group hug!”

He easily scoops up Neku and Joshua, and then he feels Shiki joining in.

“I seriously don’t understand you people,” Joshua might sound amused. Beat can’t tell—his voice is too muffled by the hugs. 

“Stick around for dinner,” Beat says. “I invite, yo. You gotta talk to Neku.”

“Yes, yes, I get it,” Joshua is probably rolling his eyes. Beat doesn’t really know. “Now could you all get off? My organs barely function as it is. I don’t need them crushed.”

He finally lets everyone go. For a second, Joshua meets his eyes, and Beat _swears_ he smiled at him—a genuine one.

Beat grins.

The Composer can’t be all that bad, huh?

**Author's Note:**

> i have no idea what prompted me to write this but alas. funny how a new day doesn't exist!!!!!!! ive never seen that!!!!!! wow.... unrealistic...........i have never heard of a 'A New Day', haha anyway twewy prequel when  
> [tumblr](http://joshrikus.tumblr.com/)  
> [twitter](http://twitter.com/joshriku/)  
> 


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